Interest in policy, think tanks, Caucasus, dogs, ethics. Teach at Ilia State University.https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mltteelgys2ystudents of #IliaStateUniversity stood up for right thing, organized in elections (traditionally captured by state) & ran cool campaign. Lots of grim things - but this inspiring story using space available to good people. Well done!!! #Georgia #education https://ganatleba.substack.com/p/the-iliauni-statement-a-blueprint?r=7yu5914 May 2026 22:08 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mltteelgys2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mlnkjeldkc24This kind of leveling & authentic connecting w people would work well in various other countries & contexts also. [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 May 2026 10:13 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnkjeldkc24https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mlfsg4367s2dend of Fidesz' reign today!!! We will party in Tbilisi, too. "O God, bless the nation of #Hungary With your grace and bounty!" #Georgia09 May 2026 08:13 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlfsg4367s2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mld4tlbuok2gNice surprise!! There are Georgian Audio books on Spotify! #Tbilisi #Georgia08 May 2026 06:42 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mld4tlbuok2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mlar4lsuek2sfree research & science are under attack in Georgia -- but institution directly affiliated with Iranian regime is allowed to operate freely in Marneuli etc. A truly stark contrast. The people who point it out are threatened by Georgian authorities. https://open.substack.com/pub/ganatleba/p/two-standards-questionable-iranian?r=7yu59&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true07 May 2026 08:07 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlar4lsuek2shttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3ml6wcntze225American historian @marcishore.bsky.social at #IliaUni talking about authoritarianism, known tropes, retro-hierarchies, scapegoating to avoid responsibility, Ionesco's rhinos roaming anew & how Vaclav #Havel's greengrocer is very relevant again.06 May 2026 14:34 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6wcntze225https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3ml6vq4vskc25Student arrested at Ilia University today, apparently for peaceful protest. Hello to @tum.de in Munich that continues to collaborate with & legitimize GD's key enterprises & would prefer its critics to shut up. #Georgia www.tum-scandal.com [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 May 2026 14:24 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6vq4vskc25https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3ml3msoxlhs2gWhen the moment will come, Kobakhidze cannot know, but he needs to worry about outliving his usefulness pretty much all the time, esp as the Orban model has been shown to be v vulnerable. Mdinaradze's name has been tested in their polling. #Georgia. [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 May 2026 07:06 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml3msoxlhs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mkzwyvo3n22cCue the enthusiastic stray dogs!!! [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 May 2026 15:04 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkzwyvo3n22chttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mkxnrepz4s2xThe excellent @jamesbarr.bsky.social on the deeper past of #Iran & #Persia that shapes, in part, the present crisis, well worth listening to get a broader view. Podcasts at their best, thx @snellarthur.bsky.social https://pca.st/episode/ae4c57ed-00e5-4f0e-8295-d614391cd04903 May 2026 17:13 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkxnrepz4s2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mksrfeu4p22n"What did these USAID people do if they can't get a job now?" — an actual comment after the cuts. One answer: they helped halve abortion rates in Georgia, in a huge improvement for maternal health. Almost no one talked about it & and here's more on this & why. https://open.substack.com/pub/hansgutbrod/p/what-did-these-usaid-people-ever?r=7yu59&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true01 May 2026 18:35 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mksrfeu4p22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mkktfmlptk2con standing up for values at a time of nihilistic totalitarianism in #Georgia -- remarks from an event in Berlin a month ago, here in English. https://open.substack.com/pub/hansgutbrod/p/standing-up-for-values-georgia-in?r=7yu59&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true28 Apr 2026 14:49 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkktfmlptk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mka4ambz3k25more on shadowy networks from the great Giorgi Lomsadze -- who is not only a friend but also my godfather (story to itself), so this is a truly nepotistic recommendation: https://tamadatales.substack.com/p/when-your-government-has-an-imaginary/comments #Georgia24 Apr 2026 08:28 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mka4ambz3k25https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjzvrqfetc2wthe great Giorgi Lomsadze finally comes to Substack! You miss out if you do not follow!!! #Georgia https://tamadatales.substack.com/p/how-tourism-tamed-the-towers-of-svaneti/comments21 Apr 2026 21:16 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjzvrqfetc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjzqo5x2mc2dfrom a few days ago -- @reuters.com covers the restructuring of education system in #Georgia, very good overview by Lucy Papachristou, title says it all. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/georgia-overhauls-higher-education-it-shifts-away-west-2026-04-15/21 Apr 2026 19:45 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjzqo5x2mc2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjz3t3np3s2fDigging up Leonidze in Sololaki/ Mtatsminda. Traffic sometimes backed up hundreds of meters on Rustaveli. #Tbilisi #Georgia21 Apr 2026 13:32 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjz3t3np3s2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjvqg4er622sEvocative writing, highly attentive & it makes some rather excellent points. [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Apr 2026 05:30 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjvqg4er622shttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjtx5gyf6s2x#Georgia's most eminent writers are protesting against the Ministry of Culture participating in the Paris Book Fair. #art #literature https://furchtbarejuristen.substack.com/p/georgian-writers-on-the-participation19 Apr 2026 12:25 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjtx5gyf6s2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjk5wzohsc2oGerman professors at KIU, incl prominent figures at @tum.de @badw.de @uni-bamberg.de who are in the International Advisory Council, say that Prof Aliko Tsintsadze is not really present there. They are demonstrably not telling the truth. @efdavies.bsky.social https://open.substack.com/pub/ganatleba/p/aliko-tsintsadzes-prominence-at-kutaisi?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web15 Apr 2026 15:00 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjk5wzohsc2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjgwg3wdss2bin a seminar in mid-March 2026, Prof Stephen Jones argued the Georgian Dream believes it can secure its future by seizing the classroom. Drawing on Chomsky, Foucault, Soviet history, & Anne Applebaum, Jones argues that this attempt is doomed to fail. https://ganatleba.substack.com/p/stephen-jones-restructuring-as-an14 Apr 2026 08:07 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjgwg3wdss2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mje7q3brxs2vThis morning, Kobakhidze will be wondering whether BI decides that his ultra divisive Orban-style of governing has outlived its usefulness, now that it looks so damaged & entirely damageable. He won't be involved in the actual consultation & decision, that's not how it works.13 Apr 2026 06:16 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mje7q3brxs2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mjd4lx3sgs26Watching truly bad guys getting defeated, in #Tbilisi, with Hungarian friends, this is a truly great historic moment. #Orban conceded!!! #Hungary The closest ally of GD now gone. Shows that lies, corruption, division do not last forever. #Georgia12 Apr 2026 19:47 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjd4lx3sgs26https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mj2gyxmwqc23this is an extraordinary interview by @gavinnewsom.bsky.social with Ken Burns, with so many great moments. Also the task of a patriot to keep “fellow citizens awake to their grievances" (Samuel Adams). Very relevant to present reality also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JusswZFFlI09 Apr 2026 09:00 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj2gyxmwqc23https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3miwuilc2ts2uWithering indictment, in the end, of (named) German law profs who continued collaborating with GD when everyone sensible saw that this helped legitimize the destruction of the rule of law. In German but Translate will get you the substance. Stark read. #Georgia https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article69105bcd4fb7cf683f37a0b1/georgien-die-deutschen-doktoren-von-tiflis-und-die-aushoehlung-des-rechtsstaats.html07 Apr 2026 22:50 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3miwuilc2ts2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mieuzuvmw226other than me, a really excellent line-up for the #Georgia event in Oxford from May 26. https://events.ox.ac.uk/oxford_event/e46cf45b-5828-f111-88b3-7ced8d9a561431 Mar 2026 19:12 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mieuzuvmw226https://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mhsrht6rvs2lA stark read, and as so often history, here the teaching of it, helps to explain where we're at. #history #Georgia #Russia https://open.substack.com/pub/ganatleba/p/closing-the-books-on-georgias-past?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7yu5924 Mar 2026 14:20 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhsrht6rvs2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mhlhrtl3x22yEvening views over #Tbilisi.21 Mar 2026 16:38 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhlhrtl3x22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mh6ntbgkrk2ewhy what happens at KIU and @tum.de while about #Georgia, is about a deeper question of scholarly integrity. #NoKings applies at universities also. It is odd that people in Munich do not seem to understand this. #education. https://open.substack.com/pub/ganatleba/p/the-king-has-no-clothes-tum-kiu-and?r=7yu59&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true16 Mar 2026 14:22 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh6ntbgkrk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/hansgutbrod.bsky.social/post/3mh3zorkvm22k"The Iranian leadership knows they are outgunned, but they think they can outlast the US." Very nuanced podcast on the present fix, w @alivaez.bsky.social to understand inside perspectives that are rarely outlined as well. #Iran https://pca.st/episode/20a2883f-39c7-4f73-8b68-a04c2d171da415 Mar 2026 13:16 +0000at://did:plc:poou3phxtmrc3tirioththdo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh3zorkvm22k